84 dead as Cyclone Amphan leaves a trail of devastation in Bengal, Bangladesh

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Cyclone Amphan: Most deaths were caused by trees uprooted by winds that gusted up to 185 km per hour and a storm surge of around five metres that flooded low-lying coastal areas.



HIGHLIGHTS

. Cyclone Amphan has killed at least 84 people in India and Bangladesh

. Most deaths were caused by trees uprooted by winds that gusted up to 185 kmph

. The cylone has also caused widespread damage to property in affected areas

At least 84 people have died and several more injured in India and Bangladesh as Cyclone Amphan made landfall last evening and battered West Bengal and Bangladesh. Widespread damage to property has been reported in several coastal villages, towns and cities, including Kolkata and Howrah. Amphan, the most powerful cyclone to hit West Bengal in over a decade, left a trail of destruction with devastated villages, uprooted trees and bridges washed away.

Most deaths were caused by trees uprooted by winds that gusted up to 185 km per hour (115 mph), and a storm surge of around five metres that inundated low-lying coastal areas when the cyclone barrelled in from the Bay of Bengal on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday assured that his government will do everything possible to help the affected people. "(I) have been seeing visuals from West Bengal on the devastation caused by Cyclone Amphan. In this challenging hour, the entire nation stands in solidarity with West Bengal. Praying for the well-being of the people of the state. Efforts are on to ensure normalcy...No stone will be left unturned in helping the affected," Modi said.

Here are the top 10 developments on Cyclone Amphan:

1) At least 72 people were killed in West Bengal, two in Odisha and 10 in Bangladesh due the cyclone. Most of these deaths were caused due to collapse of walls, drowning and falling trees.

2) Since making landfall, Cyclone Amphan, which was designated as a super cyclone at its peak intensity, weakened and was downgraded to a cyclonic storm by the India Meteorological Department on Thursday morning.

3) Though it has weakened now, Cyclone Amphan was generating winds of up to 170 kilometers (105 miles) per hour with maximum gusts of 190 kph (118 mph) when it made landfall.

4) While the cyclone lost its strength as it moved towards Bangladesh, the densely populated regions of southern West Bengal bore the brunt of the onslaught with storm surges pushing seawater 25 kilometers (15 miles) inland and flooding cities including Kolkata. In Howrah, the roof of a school building flew off in the wind. Numerous coconut trees were struck by lightning and rising rivers overflew their banks. The Kolkata international airport too was flooded.

5) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said the damage suffered by the state was difficult to assess immediately. She said that entire islands had been cut off from the mainland, including communities living along the Sunderbans, one of the largest mangrove forests in the world. "Area after area has been devastated. Communications are disrupted," she said. "We do not know if the damages will run into thousands of millions of rupees, will take three, four days to fully assess the extent of damage," she said.

6) Large portions of Kolkata and its suburbs, which has a population of 14.1 million, were flooded and many roads littered with uprooted trees, some of which collapsed on parked cars and buildings.

7) Mamata Banerjee said several century-old buildings in Kolkata have been badly damaged in the cyclone. Since Wednesday evening, many places in Kolkata were left without electricity or phone connectivity. Some residents said their mobile phones couldn't be charged and they were unable to access relief measures. "We are facing three crises: the coronavirus, the thousands of migrants who are returning home and now the cyclone," Mamata Banerjee said.

Mamata Banerjee has announced an ex-gratia amount of Rs 2 lakh each for the kins of people who lost their lives due to the cyclone.

9) Meanwhile, in neighbouring Bangladesh, at least a million people were without electricity, according to the country's Ministry of Power. Hundreds of villages were submerged by a tidal surge across the vast coastal region, disaster-response authorities said. About a dozen flood protection embankments have been breached, it said.

10) The timing of the cyclone hampered relief efforts as West Bengal and Bangladesh are both battling the coronavirus pandemic.

For West Bengal and Bangladesh, it seems to be tough road ahead as they limp back to normalcy while continuing their fight against the novel coronavirus. West Bengal faces the additional challenge of facilitating the return of migrants workers who were stranded in different parts of the country.

Source: IndiaToday.in